Can You Keep A Secret?
by Britt0913
Summary: Karen's got a secret...Can she trust Will to keep it that way?
1. Chapter 1

Will Truman walked into the Walker penthouse, briefcase in hand, and headed straight to the library where he knew he would find Karen. Walking in, he found her exactly where he thought he would. She was sitting on one of the large overstuffed chairs near the fireplace with a book in hand.

"Look Karen, I don't have time for any of your childish games today, so could you please just sign these papers for Walker, Inc? I have a very busy day and I need to get to the office."

"Sure, honey." She answered, coughing into her hand and placing her book facedown on the side table. Sitting straight up in her chair, she took his pen and signed her name with a flourish. Then, without a moment's hesitation, she slumped back to her original position: leaning to one side, knees curled up to her chest and shivering underneath the heavy blanket draped over her.

"Thank you." Will turned to leave the manse, papers in hand, when he turned back and looked at Karen. "Are you feeling alright, Karen?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, honey. I'm fine. It's just really cold in here." She responded, closing her eyes and leaning her head back.

Will regarded her with a quizzical look. She was wrapped up in a heavy blanket, in front of the roaring fireplace, wearing flannel pajamas and wearing no makeup at all. He'd never expected to see Karen Walker looking so casual. Will had on a simple cotton dress shirt and was nearly sweating through it from the heat.

He placed his briefcase down on the table and walked over to her, putting his palm against her cheek. Burning hot. Karen opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him.

"Wilma, what are you doing?"

"Karen, it's not cold in here, you're burning up. C'mon, let's get you to bed."

She shook her head. "I'm fine where I am, honey. Thank you, though."

"Alright, but at least let me take your temperature to make sure it's nothing too serious?"

Karen sighed. She knew he wouldn't leave her alone until she caved. "Fine."

Will returned several minutes later with some over-the-counter medications and a thermometer. Karen opened her mouth and allowed Will to take her temperature as she looked over the medicine bottles.

"101.3. Karen, come on. Let's get you some of this medicine and put you to bed."

"Alright, Wilma. I get it….you just want to get me into bed." She said, raising her eyebrows seductively. "But let me just remind you, I'm married and you're gay."

"Karen, I'm not trying to seduce you. I'm just trying to make you feel better." He said, reaching for one of the orange bottles of medication. "Here, take this." He said, handing the liquid to Karen.

Karen looked at the bottle and shook her head. "No, honey. I can't take that one." She handed the bottle back to him and relaxed into her chair.

"What? Why not?" Will asked her, looking at the bottle. It wasn't expired. Karen wasn't allergic to it, or else it wouldn't have been in her medicine cabinet. The only thing Will could see on it was a label warning pregnant women against using it. Will shrugged and placed the bottle back down.

"Okay, come on. Let's go." He reached for her hand and began to pull her up into a standing position.

"Will, I feel like I ought to tell you something." She wavered on her feet for a moment before latching onto Will's arm to steady herself.

"You okay?"

Karen nodded and looked up at him. "Just got a little dizzy, that's all." She answered as her eyes slipped shut and her body slumped next to Will. Will's reflexes kicked in immediately, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist and lifting her into his arms.

He carried her into her bedroom and laid her down on the bed. Walking out into the hallway, he reached into his pocket and procured his cell phone, calling his office and canceling the meetings he had scheduled for the day. He sat down on the edge of her bed and tucked several loose strands of hair behind her ear. As he sat there, he thought to himself. What was it that Karen had to tell him? And why wouldn't she take that medicine?

He didn't have to wait long for an answer. Karen's eyelids fluttered open and she looked at him.

"What happened?" she asked in a low voice.

"You blacked out in the library, so I carried you in here."

"Oh." She answered bluntly, closing her eyes.

"Karen? Can I ask you something? Why wouldn't you take that medicine?"

She opened her eyes and fiddled with the corner of her comforter. "Promise you won't tell anyone?" she asked, looking up at him for an answer. As he nodded his head, she sighed.

"I'm ---"

"Pregnant." They said in unison.


	2. Chapter 2

_"I'm ---"_

_"Pregnant." They said in unison_.

Karen nodded and began twisting her wedding rings around her finger.

"Does Stan—"

"Not yet. You don't tell your husband that he's going to be a daddy again over the phone."

Stan was away on a business trip. He had been gone for over a month and wasn't expected to return home for another week or so. Will could see that Karen missed him desperately, and was trying to put up a brave face. She buried her head in her hands and started to cry, curling into a ball and lying against the pillows.

"Karen, what's the matter?" Will rubbed her back, soothingly.

"He's not going to want this baby, Will. I know him. He didn't want anymore children. And now, because of one night that we couldn't remember to use protection…….he's going to hate me."

Will looked appalled at Karen's sudden emotional outburst. Gathering her petite frame into his arms, he rocked her back and forth until her tears subsided. "Shh. Karen, he's not going to hate you. He loves you so much, and he's going to be so thrilled that the two of you have created this little life together."

She looked up at him and sniffled. "But what if he's not?"

"If he's not….then he's the stupidest man in the world."

Karen forced a smile. "Thanks, honey."

Will looked around, noticing for the first time that Jack was nowhere to be found. Jack had moved into Karen's mansion a few weeks before, due to the INS investigating his 'marriage' to Rosario. Will couldn't remember a time in the recent past that Jack was not attached to Karen's hip.

Karen noticed him looking around and knew precisely what he was looking for, or rather, who.

"He's not here. Something about Barney's having a sale…..I don't know." She wiped her tear-stained face and sat up straight, staring at Will. "Honey, didn't you say you have a ton of meetings today? You should get back to work."

"I cancelled them. You can't be left alone when you're sick….not that being pregnant is a sickness. I just meant that –"

Karen raised her hand in an effort to stop him. "I understand, honey."

He sighed. "Good. So, I'm yours for the day. What can I get for you?"

"You're seriously not going to leave me home alone?" Karen asked, sounding annoyed but secretly thrilled. She loved when Will was around instead of Jack. He gave her the same attention that her husband always did….when he was around.

"Nope."

Karen settled back into the pillows, shifting around to get comfortable. "Well, the only thing I can think of right now is the book I was reading in the library. Could you get it for me?"

"Sure."

Will walked out of the spacious master bedroom and down the hallway to the library. Kneeling down beside Karen's chair, he picked up the book Karen was reading. "What To Expect When You're Expecting?" Will flipped through the book, seeing several pages were earmarked at the top by Karen. He scanned those pages, seeing what Karen had been reading. Morning Sickness, Fitness During Pregnancy, Sex During Pregnancy, and Abnormal Symptoms To Watch For.

He walked back into Karen's bedroom, sitting down next to her on the bed and handing her the book.

"Thanks, honey." She said, squeezing his hand and flipping the book open to the page she had left off on and continued reading. She sat there reading for a few minutes before she looked up and noticed Will was still sitting on the bed, staring at her. "What?"

Will shook his head. "Nothing."

"Wilma…."

He looked back over at her and smiled. "You're glowing."

A soft smile grew across her face and she looked down into her lap, blushing. "Shut up." She replied teasingly, nudging his shoulder playfully as he sat down next to her and read over her shoulder.


	3. Chapter 3

Will and Karen stayed in bed together for the rest of the afternoon, reading and talking. Around lunchtime, Will looked to his left and realized Karen had fallen asleep. Gently, he moved off the bed and went downstairs to get them both something to eat. He walked into the kitchen, looking for Karen's trusted maid and friend, Rosario.

"Hello, Mr. Will. How are you?"

"I'm good Rosie, how are you?"

"Fine. How's Miss Karen?"

"She just fell asleep. That's why I came down here, I thought I'd get us something to eat for when she wakes up. Um, has she been having any food cravings lately?"

At the word 'cravings', Rosario's eyebrows lifted. "She told you, didn't she?"

Will let out a sigh. He didn't have to pretend around Rosario. Of course Karen had told her, she told Rosie everything.

"Yea. She did. How long has she known?"

Rosario began walking around the kitchen, gathering some of the foods that Karen had been craving and setting them down on a tray. Will watched her closely, squinting his eyes at some of the foods that Rosario had put down. A peanut butter and banana sandwich, a bottle of birch beer, some salt and vinegar potato chips and a pack of rice pudding.

"She's known for about three weeks, but she's almost two months along." She answered, opening a medicine cabinet near the dual-oven and pulled out several bottles of pills, taking out the prescribed dosage of each and placing them on the tray.

"What is this?! She's still taking pills?!" Will said, his voice rising as he watched Rosario return the caps to each bottle.

"No. She stopped taking everything and drinking as soon as that strip turned blue." She picked up each of the containers and explained what each of them were for. "These are her prenatal vitamins. These are to help her with her morning sickness. She's been having a really rough time with that. And these are for her withdrawal symptoms. The doctor prescribed them as soon as Miss Karen told him she had gone off pills and alcohol cold-turkey."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I- I just assumed…."

Rosario nodded. "It's okay. I would have reacted the same way if I were you." She handed the tray to Will. "Here you go. Everything Miss Karen has been asking for this week. She goes through phases every few days."

Will took the tray from her and went back upstairs to Karen's bedroom, which was empty. Placing the tray down on the side table, he called out for Karen.

"Karen?! Karen?!"

He got to the door of the master bathroom and stopped his yelling. There she was, leaning against the wall, having apparently just had a bout of morning sickness. He rushed inside and knelt down next to her, pulling her hair out of her face.

"Sorry, Karen. You okay?"

She leaned her head on his shoulder and nodded slowly. "Yea, honey. I'll be fine. Just give me a minute. I'm not sure if I'm ready to move yet." She let her eyes slip shut and rested against Will.

After ten minutes and she hadn't been sick again, Will helped Karen up and brought her back to bed.

"So………are you hungry?"

She simply glared at him. "Not at this moment."

"Well, I brought you some food. You need to eat something and here are your pills, take them with food."

Karen looked at him, surprised. "How did you know about the---." She paused. "Rosario told you, huh?"

"What's the big deal? I promise I won't tell anyone." Will said, crossing his heart and making the Boy Scout sign.

"You better not. No one was supposed to find out until I told Stan, but then I woke up a few weeks ago and something wasn't right, so I went to the doctor and ended up telling Rosie about everything. But Will, out of my three best friends, I trust you the most. Jack and Grace are wonderful and I love them, but you cannot tell them I'm pregnant until I talk to Stan. Neither one of them could keep a secret if their life depended on it."

Will nodded his head. He knew how right Karen was about the fact that Grace and Jack were horrible about keeping secrets told to them.

"Now, since we've had that little heart to heart," Karen began, looking at the tray of food beside Will. "I could use a little something to eat."

Will looked at her incredulously.

"Please?"


	4. Chapter 4

Will spent the rest of the day at Karen's, catering to her every need, leaving only after she fell asleep. He hadn't heard from Grace all day, and Jack hadn't called him either. He began walking down Park Avenue when he heard his name being called. He looked up from the sidewalk and saw Jack walking towards him.

"Will! What are you doing here?"

"I needed Karen to sign some papers since Stan is outta town."

Jack furrowed his eyebrows. "It's 7 o'clock at night. Isn't legal stuff over at five?"

As hard as it was for Will to believe, Jack almost had a point.

"Well, I better get back to the apartment before Grace tries to cook dinner and burns the place down. "

"Okay. I've got plans with Karen, anyway. On Thursdays we watch _Grey's Anatomy _and take a shot every time they call Patrick Dempsey 'McDreamy'."

Will shot to attention. "No!" He said, a little more harshly than he had intended.

Jack noticed his tone. "No, what?"

"Uh, Karen just fell asleep. She's not feeling so well, and I just don't think that she should be playing any 'McDreamy' drinking games. That's all."

"Oh…..okay. Well, I'll see you later." Jack said as he skipped into the lobby.

Will arrived home and began to make dinner when Grace walked through the door.

"Where the hell have you been?" she asked as she slammed the door.

"Good evening to you, too."

"I've been calling your office all day and that secretary of yours told me that you took the day off."

"Yea, I did."

"Well, when she told me that, I decided that I would come home and play hooky with you. But surprise, surprise…..I get home and you're not here! So I ask again, where the hell have you been?!"

Will sighed. He decided to tell her the truth. "I was at Karen's. I needed her to sign some paperwork, and then she didn't feel too well, so I stayed to make sure she was alright."

"Oh, poor Karen. Is she okay? I should call her."

"She's fine, Grace. I'm sure she'll feel better tomorrow."

With that, Will set the table and sat down to dinner with Grace, wondering about how Karen was doing.

Back at the Walker mansion, Karen had woken up from her nap and was sitting in bed reading her books on pregnancy. Suddenly the phone on her bedside table rang. Only one person knew that number and she smiled when she picked up the phone.

"Karen Walker."

The person on the other end of the line smiled upon hearing her voice. "Hi baby. How are you?"

"I'm doing good, Stanley. How is your trip?"

"That's actually what I'm calling about, Kare. You see-"

"Stanley! If you're about to tell me that you're going to be gone even longer, I'm going to scream."

"Karen, listen. The reason I'm calling is because-"

"You know what, Stanley. I have something really important to talk to you about, and I was waiting until you came home so I could tell you face to face. But, it's starting to seem like you won't be home for a while, so I think I better just tell you." She took a deep breath.

"Sweetheart?"

"Stan, honey? We're……I mean, I'm…I'm pregnant."

Karen heard a sharp intake of breath from the other end of the phone. "You're what?"

"Pregnant." She said, in a low voice.

After she didn't hear anything but silence over the phone for several moments, Karen spoke. "Stanley? Honey, are you there?"

"Stay right there. I'll be home in a few hours." With that, Stan hung up the phone and Karen was filled with nerves.

Instinctively, she picked up the phone and dialed Will's cell phone. After three rings, he picked up.

"Hello?"

"I told Stan."

"Karen?"

"I told Stan, and he said to stay here…that he'd be home in a few hours."

"Did he----- how did he sound, Karen?"

She sniffled, her emotions were out of control from being pregnant. "He sounded….I don't know. Like I've never heard him sound before. I'm scared, Will."

"It's gonna be okay, Karen."

"Will, could you….."

"I'll be right over."

"Thanks, honey."


	5. Chapter 5

Will arrived at the penthouse in record time. When he rang the bell, he was surprised when Karen answered instead of Rosario. She was wearing an old, worn-in pair of jeans, which he could tell were becoming a little tight with Karen's pregnancy weight.

"Karen, hey." He moved to hug her but she beat him to it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly. "It's okay, I'm here. It's all gonna be fine."

She nodded wordlessly, still not letting go of Will. She pulled back and made eye contact with him. "I'm nervous."

Will rubbed her back soothingly and kissed the top of her head. "It's going to be fine. I promise."

Three hours later, Karen and Will were sitting in the solarium. Karen had calmed down respectably, and was now simply waiting for her husband to come home. No sooner had she thought about him that Stan walked in the front door.

"Karen!? Where are you?" he bellowed up the stairs.

Karen shot a frightened glance at Will as she stood up.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, honey. It's fine."

She walked over to the top of the stairs and saw him. He had an unreadable expression on his face. She slowly made her way down the stairs and stopped on the landing in front of him.

"Hi Stanley."

He glared at her for a moment. She stared down at the floor, looking ashamed. Suddenly, his arms were around her waist and she was being lifted into the air and twirled around.

"We're having a baby!" Stan shouted throughout the penthouse.

Will, who was still sitting upstairs, smiled widely and made his way towards the staircase. He stopped upon seeing Karen in Stan's arms, crying tears of joy into his neck.

"Oh, honey. I'm so glad you're happy!" She said, through tears.

"Of course I am, Kare. Why wouldn't I be?"

She shrugged and held him tighter. "I love you." She whispered, kissing his cheek.

Stan put her down onto the floor and took her face in his hands. "I love you, too."

Will decided that this would be as good a time as any to make an exit and leave Karen and Stan alone to celebrate.

"Will? What are you doing here?" Stan asked as he saw Will walking down the staircase.

"Grace asked Will to come over and keep me company since I didn't go into work today." Karen responded, not wanting her husband to know that Will was there in case Stan wasn't happy about the baby.

"How are you feeling now, Kare? Do you need to lie down? Eat? Anything?" Stan asked quickly, ready to give his wife anything she could possibly want.

She giggled at his enthusiasm. "I'm fine for now, honey. Thank you, though."

"Well, I'll leave you two alone. Good to see you, Stan." He shook Stan's hand then leaned down and kissed Karen's cheek. "Congratulations."

Karen smiled as Will closed the door behind him, then turned around and hugged her husband again. "I'm so happy you're home, Stan."

"Me too, baby. Me too." He took her hand in his and walked into the living room, sitting her down on his lap and placing his hand on her stomach. "So, let's talk about this baby. How far along are you?"

"Just about two months. I'm due in December."

"Two months, huh? How long have you known?"

"Um….going on three weeks, I guess."

Stan sighed. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Karen looked at Stan with a pained expression. "I didn't want to tell you over the phone. I thought you deserved to hear it face to face…..I guess it didn't work out that way though, huh?"

They sat there in silence for several moments before Karen spoke.

"Honey? You don't have to go back to Chicago do you?"

"No. Why?"

"Do you wanna come with me for my ultrasound tomorrow afternoon?" Karen asked shyly.

Stan smiled. "I'd love to."


End file.
